Saturday, September 13, 2014

CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM

Historical events greatly influenced the lives of our
ancestors. Think of the Depression, the San Francisco Earthquake, the many
wars, floods, epidemics, the sinking of the Titanic, the changing laws, train
wrecks, mining disasters, the Gold Rush. You have to know history if you want
to do excellent genealogy research. One
book I recommend is History for Genealogists by Judy Jacobson.

This summer I had the chance to visit the marvelous Chicago History Museum at 1601 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park. Here I
learned about the many industries of Chicago (meatpacking, railroads, steel, advertising,
retail, mail order and so much more). On one of the walls is a detailed
timeline of important dates in Chicago history.

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE

One section is devoted to the great Chicago fire that
occurred on October 8, 1871. Were your ancestors living in Chicago at that
time? I hope not. It was interesting to
see some of the items that somehow survived the blaze, such as a beautiful
porcelain doll. As you walk through the exhibit, you can read about how
the city restored its vitality and in 1893 hosted the World’s Columbian
Exposition. Oh, yes, you can also read about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. Click here to read more about the fire.

CRIME AND GANGS

Another section of the museum highlights the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre There are also displays that discuss the 1920's gangsters of Chicago and the
Chicago Crime Commission. During the
Prohibition, as you know, people were devising ways to make alcohol. A copper
still and bucket are on display. For
more on the gangs, check out Chicago Gangland History Those were wild times.

ARTIFACTS AND MAPS

If you have Chicago ancestors, you really need to see this
museum. There are displays of artifacts representing
many different ethnic groups who lived
(and live) in Chicago: a Polish prayer book, a Jewish wedding ring and German
sheet music were just some of many items I viewed. There are community settlement maps on the
walls for different decades showing where each ethnic group tended to reside. These
maps are truly fascinating and could be very helpful if you are trying to figure
out where an ancestor might have lived in Chicago. The Demographics of Chicago
page at Wikipedia has an image of the 1950 Community Settlement Map. (1)

SETTLEMENT HOUSES

I enjoyed the exhibit about social reformer Jane Addams and
her quest to help poor immigrants in the late 1800s with settlement houses
designed to help the community. There is a Jane Addams Hull-House
Museum in Chicago, which I want to visit. Click here to read more. If your ancestor was an immigrant in Chicago,
Jane may have indirectly made their live easier.

FAMILY TREE

And, best of all for genealogy fans, the museum has a large
family tree of the Pritzker family who came to Chicago in the late 1800s from
Kiev and later became very successful. Below is a tiny snippet of the tree, but
it is enormous and covers an entire wall.